NORTHERN IRELAND: REACTIONS TO DRUMCREE VIOLENCE (3)

(12 Jul 1998) English/Nat

The deaths of three Catholic children in an arson attack mark what shaken Northern Ireland leaders have termed a "turning point" in the violent stalemate over the blocked Protestant march.

Northern Ireland's Orangemen are under intense pressure from all sides to call off their Drumcree protest in the wake of the horrific murders.

Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble and Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon have joined the calls for an end to the Drumcree standoff, saying "no road is worth a life."

The horrific deaths of three young Catholic brothers at their home in County Antrim has left both Protestant and Catholic leaders shaken.

Calls for an end to the Protestant Orange Order's Drumcree standoff have been coming from all sides.

Northern Ireland's First Minister David Trimble urged Orangemen in the strongest possible terms to abandon their standoff, while Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon said a solution to the current crisis was not impossible.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"And I must say to the Portadown brethren that the only way in which they can clearly distance themselves from these murders, show to the world that they repudiate those who have murdered young children and used them as an excuse for so doing the only way they can repudiate that is now to leave the hill at Drumcree Parish Church - and return home."
SUPER CAPTION: David Trimble, Northern Ireland First Minister

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"On behalf of the people of the North of Ireland, could I reiterate our commitment, David Trimble's and mine to finding a resolution of this problem. I want to also express the sympathy that we have for those young, the three young fellows who were burned alive in their own beds in the most of callous of circumstances. And as I do that we also think of all the other people who have been injured, whose homes have been attacked and who have been subjected to violence. Between us we have a mandate to strive for peace and progress for all our people. Together we'll go forward to find a solution to this crisis and the wider context, all the other Parades issues. There are those who have told us that that's impossible. Of course they told us that the beginnings of peace would be created, it has been. We were told it would be impossible to get political agreement - it is possible. It has been done. There were those telling us that it was not possible to get a resolution of this specific problem in Portadown and the Parades problems in general. It is not impossible. We will continue to try to do it and we will do it."
SUPER CAPTION: Seamus Mallon, Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister

Mallon said he and Trimble would work tirelessly to help bring about a solution.

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